Levin: We Cannot Forget The Hostages Left In Beirut

December 22, 1985|By John Wark of the Sentinel Staff

The Orlando Sentinel: Why were you held in captivity so long?

Jerry Levin: My captors were Shiite Moslem fundamentalists. Some of them are related to the 17 prisoners in Kuwait whose release they are demanding. The reason for our captivity was a life for a life. My life and freedom depended on their the Kuwait-held hostages' life and freedom. But the underlying causes are political. These captors have never cared that much about publicity. For over a year and a half they were willing for it to be very, very quiet.

Q: Have the Shiite Moslem captors asked for anything more than the release of the 17 hostages in Kuwait?

A: No. Our government says they don't make concessions; they don't make deals. If they get to that point after talking that's one thing, but not to talk -- that just flies in the face of every known strategy for reaching a successful conclusion. If you don't talk, the message to the captors and captives is that you don't care.

Q: Have your political views changed as a result of your experience?

A: No, my political views are the same. My understanding of the situation there has not changed by my captivity at all.

Q: What did you do during your leave of absence -- after you got out of Lebanon and before you went back to work?

A: We Levin and his wife, Lucille spent almost 100 percent of our time trying to call public attention to the plight of the hostages who are still there, because we both felt that if I were still chained to the radiator in Bekaa, I would be part of The Forgotten Eight. The public knew next to nothing about our captivity.

Q: Do you think the public is now more aware?

A: The public may know that there are several Americans being held hostage, but they don't know why. This is our problem. They are being held for the exchange of 17 prisoners in Kuwait. It was that way when I was kidnapped, and it is still the same today. When I got home I was astonished to find that few people knew that. Until this summer the government was successful in perpetuating the myth that our captivity was a mystery when it was not.

Q: Why did the U.S. government do that?

A: This is an embarrassing situation. When he was inaugurated, President Reagan said that Americans would never be held hostage again. Since being forced to acknowledge why we were being held, the administration has continued to maintain the posture that it won't negotiate. The problem is that the government has treated this crisis differently than in the case of the TWA hijacking last summer.

Q: How so?

A: The government did everything that it clearly has not been willing to do in this case. But with the public not aware, there's not the insistence that the government do whatever is necessary to free the Beirut hostages.

Q: What should the government do?

A: Negotiate the release. The administration has a policy which puts it in a difficult position. It's the kind of position that any seasoned and knowledgeable anti-terrorist expert would tell you we should never have been in. You don't ever say what your policy toward terrorists is because each situation is ad hoc. You don't say anything that could possibly tie your hands. But our government will not do what Israel has done several times in the past. Israel will do everything to get hostages back, including negotiating with terrorists and making concessions. Last spring they exchanged three Israelis for over 1,000 murdering terrorist thugs.

Q: So you advocate the release of the 17 terrorists in Kuwait?

A: If it becomes necessary. The argument that has been made -- that to release them will inspire further acts of terrorism -- just doesn't apply in this situation. For this reason: The political causes of terrorism are so deep and unresolved at this point that, whether or not the exchange is made, acts of terrorism are going to increase. And you just don't have to take my word for it. Every expert on terrorism has said the same thing.

Q: Why are the prospects so bleak?

A: Because the political causes, the hatred of America is so deep. There are going to continue to be acts of terrorism against us until the political problems are resolved. Right now we're not trusted in a great part of the Middle East.

Q: Do you feel bitter toward the U.S. government for its inaction?

A: I am very much concerned. When I returned to the United States at Andrew's Air Force Base, in the rush of excitment of first returning home, I said live on television that it was good to be back in a country whose government valued the individual life. But I'm astonished to find that in the case of these hostages, these hostages, as compared to the other Americans in recent hostage crises, there appears to be a double standard. The government is not willing to go as far as it did for the others.